So – you have gone through our website and think our team is a good fit for your project? Great! The first step is to get in touch. You can reach us via email ([email protected]) with an initial description of your project. We start by scheduling a conference call in which we discuss your ideas. We answer all emails within 24h and are usually available between 5:00AM and 8:00PM GMT.

This initial call gives us the opportunity to introduce our team and our processes and it gives you the chance to pitch your product. We can go through any support materials you prepared and we will give feedback and ideas based on our previous experience on similar products.

After this call, we gather our notes and, together with the team, try to establish if we are a good fit for you and if you are a good fit for us. We make sure we fully understand the challenges of the product and which product requirements are implementable directly and which require more research.

From a process standpoint, our preferred model is based on 2-week iterations (or sprints). We divide the project in a number of logical iterations such that after each iteration we have a fully functional product with a given subset of features. An iteration starts with agreeing on the feature set to be implemented in the 2-week period. At the end of the first week we send an intermediary report (PDF) describing the progress made, together with screenshots of the product shaping up. At the end of the second week we send a final report which also contains instructions on how to test the application on a live server. We also do a live demo in the first days after the completion of each iteration.

A typical minimum viable product (*) requires on average between 3 to 5 iterations.

We decide internally the engineers who work on the project based on their previous experience. For instance, if there is a feature dealing with Excel spreadsheet upload, an engineer who has already implemented complex spreadsheet upload features will implement this component, thus minimizing the development time. Because we fully adhere to the Ruby on Rails standards, it is easy for any one of us to pick up the application from the previous developer, a benefit which also covers exceptional cases such as illness, vacation, etc.

The last step before getting started is to sign a contract. We use a typical Master Agreement contract, but feel free to propose your own version. Invoices are issued after each iteration is completed and demo-ed via screen-sharing, and you are satisfied with the work. No advanced payment is required. Bugs are usually fixed free of charge and we monitor your application for up to 2 months after completing our work. Feedback is incorporated and implemented at the beginning of the next scheduled iteration.

And that is how we work at Take Off Labs. We can’t wait to get in touch and launch your product as well! Just drop a line at [email protected].